Pallas
Pallas was a son of the Titan Crius and his wife Eurybia and was often numbered among the Titans himself. He married Styx, an Oceanid associated with the Underworld, with whom he fathered Zelos, Nike, Kratos, and Bia.
Pallas was not one of the original twelve Titans born to Gaia and Uranus, but he was the child of one of those Titans (Crius) and was thus sometimes called a Titan as well.
Pallas was usually called the father of four personifications linked with war and violence: Zelos (“Rivalry”), Nike (“Victory”), Kratos (“Strength”), and Bia (“Force”).
#Etymology
The name “Pallas” (Greek Πάλλας, translit. Pallas) was sometimes interpreted as meaning “maiden” in antiquity, as it was a common epithet of the goddess Athena.1 Other early sources derived the name from the Greek verb pallō, meaning “shake.”2 However, the true etymology of the name is unknown and may be pre-Greek.3
#Pronunciation
English
Greek
Pallas
Πάλλας (translit. Pallas)
Phonetic
IPA
[PAL-uhs]
/ˈpæl əs/
#Family
Pallas was one of the sons of Crius, a Titan, and Eurybia, a daughter of Gaia and Pontus. He had two brothers, Astraeus and Perses.4
Pallas married Styx, an Oceanid who gave her name to one of the rivers of the Underworld. Together they had four children, each a personification of a different aspect of war or violence: Zelos (“Rivalry”), Nike (“Victory”), Kratos (“Strength”), and Bia (“Force”).5 According to the Roman mythographer Hyginus, Pallas and Styx were also the parents of Scylla, the Fountains, and the Lakes.6 Other sources made Pallas the father of Eos7 or Selene.8
#Family Tree
Parents
father
mother
- Eurybia
Siblings
brothers
Consorts
wife
- Styx
Children
sons
daughters
- Kratos
- Zelos
- Nike
- Bia
#Mythology
Pallas, like his brothers Astraeus and Perses, does not have a mythology of his own. Instead, he serves a genealogical function as the husband of Styx and the father of a handful of divine personifications.
#Further Reading
#Primary Sources
Greek
Hesiod: Pallas’ genealogy is outlined in Hesiod’s Theogony (seventh century BCE).
Apollodorus: Pallas’ genealogy and mythology are summarized in the Library (first century BCE or first few centuries CE).
Roman
Hyginus: The Fabulae, a Latin mythological handbook (first or second century CE), names Pallas as one of the Giants.
#Secondary Sources
Gantz, Timothy. Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources. 2 vols. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.
Graves, Robert. The Greek Myths. London: Penguin, 1955.
Rose, H. J. A Handbook of Greek Mythology. London: Methuen, 1929.
Smith, William. “Pallas (1).” In A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Spottiswoode and Company, 1873. Perseus Digital Library. Accessed November 2, 2021. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DP%3Aentry+group%3D4%3Aentry%3Dpallas-bio-1.
Theoi Project. “Pallas.” Published online 2000–2017. https://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanPallas.html.